Franklin diver describes discovering 'towering' shipwreck
When Ryan Harris slipped into frigid Arctic waters last month, he was finally able to cap off a six-year search for one of Sir John Franklin's doomed ships.
"My first impression when you come up alongside the side of the wreck is the magnitude of it. It towers overhead – five or six metres off the seafloor," the Parks Canada senior underwater archaeologist told CTV's Canada AM on Friday.
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Once the weather cleared, Harris described the dive as "a once in a lifetime experience… I've never seen a shipwreck like that in my entire career."
Harris said the ship is in remarkable condition and "even large portions of the upper deck are still well preserved."
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Franklin was a Royal Navy officer and explorer who departed England in 1845, looking to traverse the last uncharted sections of the Northwest Passage. The two ships became icebound and all 128 aboard were lost. A number of missions had tried to locate the wrecks, with the first setting out in 1848. Since 2008, Parks Canada has lead six major searches. No mission had any luck until this year.
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interactive map shows known and likely location of the ships, 2008-2013 search areas, and the locations where artifacts, such as cutlery, were found.